In the Heart of the Land
by EleanorGardner
Summary: What if Cair Paravel was able to sense the thoughts and feelings of those within its walls, and maybe have some of its own? One-shot. Set at the dawn of the Golden Age of Narnia.


**AN: Hey there! I had this idea at around midnight one night, and just had to start writing. I wondered to myself, "What would Cair Paravel sense if the castle were able to sense the thoughts and emotions of those within it, and had some of its own, in a vaguely sentient manner?" This humble one-shot was the product of my almost-asleep brain. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Anything recognizable belongs to CS Lewis.**

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Cair Paravel... Once the beating, life-filled heart of Narnia, now filled with silence.. heavy, lonely silence, as though the very soul of the place had died.

Its halls and courtyards has been desolate for many long years. Instead of laughter, wind blew up and down the corridors. Snow was spread throughout the Great Hall instead of good-will and peace. It had been many years... so, so long... since the gardens had echoed with the patter of happy feet of many different sizes. The four thrones... those wonderful, majestic, lonely seats... had not felt the warmth of a body since the Tree of Protection fell and the White Witch and Winter swept over the land. They longed for Aslan's return, and with it, the crowning of the rightful rulers. Those steadfast chairs had been made to hold the servants and rulers of the land, not dust and snow. The audience chamber had not held the wisdom of a king, nor the bright, shining laughter of a queen for an age and a day, and such things were sorely missed.

Cair Paravel by the eastern sea... what a sorrowful place it was. Yet there was still hope, for deep in the heart of the castle stood a little room. That room contained four little boxes, and within those four boxes were four crowns, waiting for the day — for it would assuredly come — when Aslan would crown four children of Adam and Eve to be rulers over the land, and when peace and prosperity would be returned to all. The castle curled itself about this room in sleep, nurturing the hope that rested there, protecting it and saving it for the day of the Lion's return.

The first thing it noticed was what woke it from slumber...the hungry fluttering of a week-old robin, searching the gardens for a morsel of food. Later the next day, a mouse ventured forth into the Great Hall, tickling the floor with its delicate footsteps. In the evening, water began to trickle in a nearby brook, music that echoed through the silent castle's halls. Flowers budded and bloomed in an hour, and trees put on new leaves, while the Cair woke from its age-long slumber and threw off its blanket of snow. Nary a week and the halls were filled with the excited chattering of birds and the hurried scurrying of creatures of different kinds. Aslan had come! And the children of the prophecy were to be crowned in three days! The courtyards echoed with excitement, and the Great Hall was bursting with joy. The gardens had exploded in a riot of colours and greenery, and saplings had shot up so fast that the stones of the castle were reminded of the growth of new things at the creation of the world, when Aslan had sung all things into being.

On the eve of the coronation, the castle's heart was filled with the respect and reverence of several dwarves as they found and entered the small room containing the ruler's diadems. It felt their awe as they lifted the four plain wooden boxes from their velvet bed, and bore the ancient crowns within to be prepared for the coronation.

On the dawn of that wondrous day of hope and new beginnings, the castle pulsed with the joy and excitement of the many creatures who had gathered there to witness the historic occasion. Young and old, large and small, they were about to witness the dawn of a new age, and the castle felt their wonder at its very core.

The Great Lion began to speak, and silent awe spread through the castle at the sound of his rich, gentle voice. At the presentation of the new Kings and Queens of Narnia, joy and exaltation flooded every corner of the Cair, and all the creatures rejoiced at the ushering in of a new, Golden Age under the blessing of Aslan and the four monarchs. The castle celebrated in its own quiet way, knowing that this momentous occasion would be remembered for the rest of the lifetime of Narnia, and the deeds of this age would go down in history, told time and again to remind each new generation of the legacy that the land and its peoples forged during the Golden Age of Narnia.

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**AN: I took some creative liberties with the crowns and their use/origin/age.**


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